Skin fastener



Feb. 27, 1945. FIC, WALLACE I 2,370,337

SKIN FASTENER Filed Nov. 3, 1942 "A- i a Patented Feb. 27, 1945 FASTENER 1ErankiC.Wallace, -'Los.fAnge1es, .Calif., assigner, zbymesne'fassigmnents, to :Herman -H. Helbnsh,

Beverly .fHil1s, Calif.

'This V.ino/. ention ,relates to skin fasteners and, more particularly, .it has to .do .with fasteners employed in the .natureof .temporary rivetsffor holding .together .perforated r4superposed .sheets or the ylike .duringriveting operations.

`In themainmy present improvements are.di rected to novelstructural features .which substantially .simplify .and .reduce the rcost .of manufacture ofskin fastenersof Athis typeas .well as increase .their .operatingeciencv This type of .fastener .tynicallyemploys .a .cylindrical `housing in which `is reciprocally mounted .a Vspring- 4pressed bifurcated .retaining ,pin which has Aa laterally projecting Aportion 4on .its .outer end .for engaging and clamping work against theend .of the housing. The bifurcations vhave generally been ,provided .in priorart devices in several differentmanners. Inone .typethe pin Vislongitudinallyslotted from its `.outer ,end .to .provide ,the bifurcations;..in.another type the pin is. composed oftwo separablesegments. lnistillanother type theretaining memberis .inthe form ofarela- .tively long resilient .memberbent into hairpin shape, the closed end/of whicnprojects.frombne end .of .the yhousing to be `directly .engaged .and pressed inwardly of .the 4housing by an applying tool .to .protractthe-.opposite .sheet engaging end from the housing. The rst two types are ,relatively .expensivevto manufacture and the lastmentioned Atype vis unsatisfactory because, among other reasons, ythe Aretaining member must ,be madeof such small cross-section .thatit-becomes objectionably distorted when .sucient end' pressure .is applied to .compress `.the spring normally urgingthe retaining member into retractedposition.

To. makemy invention `fully understood Iffshall now describe a preferred adaptation .of it although, within.itsbro-aderscopefas -dened by the appended claims, the .invention is susceptible \oi being carried out in other :specific forms Y.of device ,and .Itherefore 4do not wish .to be lirrlledrto the :specific details now yto be .described except' '.Eig.5 isa section onlineB-"S of FigfZ; and

.Fig. 6 isan en'd view takenonline i5-#e oiFig. l.

'Referring howto the drawing, ViI show vat 15' a cylindric body having an end Ywall 6 Iprovided with a central opening'l.. Thebodyis .provided withan annular 'flange l' presenting an undercut shoulder VH adjacent the inner end, which shoulder .enables "the clamp to be held .against longitudinal movement in a clamp .applying tool, notshown, as will be hereinafter described. f

Reciprocally .incnmte'd in the .body .bore ..1 `,prof

` .vide an elongated T bar or .plunger 'il having fits into the'U-shapeillustrated.

,'An end cap 3 6 issecured `over.the.innerend ol the 'body imposition vspaced from .theend wall, 6. by having its ,peripheral `edge .crimped .into an annularjgroove 4provided inthe body. To spread the legs of member 20 apart I provide a Lflat T- shaped spreader 3.5 having its cross portion a' rotatably mountedgin the space between.capito andendwall t, the centralileg 35h of .thespreader; projecting Youtwardly.between .thelegs oi member2'0 'throughan openingi'l provided inthe cap.

A coilspringidgis mounted .around .the retaining memberjZ .and bar 'l1 .withinthe body, seating aitjtsginner'en'd againstend wall Band seating ,atlits outer end .against head i8 -of pary ,I l.,

this Aspring .normally .urging 'the l.retaining .mem-

ber'intoretracted position (Figs. l and '4).

*The operation of thedeviceis as follows: .Eirst the device is placed in an applying tool, ynot shown, many `of whichare well knownin the art. Such a tool'holds the body .5 .againstflongitudinj'al .movement .while .exerting ...inward pressure .0n .bar ll to protract the Vouter .end vof .retaining member'fl with .respect tothe body, vrWhenthe device .is thus fully protracted (Rigs. .2 and .3),

the' outer .end .of memberl is spaced .suiiiciently beyond .theouter end of .thespreader legtSEb .to

. enable the legs of the retaining member` to flex Fig. 4 is a plan View of Fig. 1 with parts broken away Q together .sothat their enlarged outenendsmay .be inserted .through registering .perforations -P Lin wol'kheets. Upon releaseof .the pressure .on theenjd 113 of the bar, the 4.spring .4.0 retracts the legs of member `2 inwardly of the body while those legs are spread4 apart by the longitudinally By the structure described, the retaining member 20 may be made of as small cross-section as ldesired since it is relatively short and does not have to receive directly the considerable distorting pressure applied by the applying tool to compress spring 40. The push bar l1 may be made as strong as desired to enable it to be engaged by the operating tool and in turn protract the retaining member. Push bar l'l preferably extends into the bore of the housing, when the retaining member is retracted, a distance at least equal to the length of travel of the retaining member in moving between protracted and retracted positions. Since pliers type applying tools are frequently used to push the bar inwardly against the spring pressure and since the pressure applying body of such tool does not move in a straight line but rather about an arc, the utility of the relatively strong push bar and its extent are readily appreciated. It can also be readily observed that if the U-shaped retainingmember were made suiciently long to enable its closed end to project outwardly from the inner end of the housing to directly receive the pressure of the applying tool instead of utilizing bar I1, fatal distortion would result because as a rule these retaining members must be made of extremely small cross-section. For instance, in the general use to which such devices are being put inthe airplane industry at this time, the combined crosssectionof both legs of the retaining member and the spreader leg v3'51) must be sufciently small to permit them to pass through a sheet perforation of diameters of the order of 1/8" to 13g".

Bar I1 and the closed end of retaining member 20 are pivotally connected together so that the bar may swing about the end of the retaining member. Thus although the operating tool may move the outer end of the bar laterally, the lateral movement is not imparted to the retaining member, which latter is at al1 times free to move in and out of the body in a straight line.

I claim:

1. A skin fastener of the class described cornprising a body presenting a sheet engaging outer end portion, a U-shaped retaining member having its closed end within the body and its legs projecting through the sheet engaging end portion of the body for protraction and retraction with respect thereto, means for protracting and reti-acting the retaining member including a spring pressed elongated push member pivotally secured at its inner end to the closed end of the retaining member and projecting from the other end of the body for engagement by an operating tool.

2. A skin fastener of the class described comprising a body presenting a sheet engaging outer end portion, a U-shaped retaining member having its closed end within the body and its legs projecting through the sheet engaging end portion of the body for protraction and retraction with respect thereto, means for protracting and retracting the retaining member including a spring pressed elongated push member secured at its inner end to the closed end of the retaining member and projecting from the other end of the body for engagement by an operating tool, and means for spreading the legs of the retaining member apart including a T-shaped spreader bar anchored against longitudinal movement in the body and projecting outwardly therefrom between the legs of the retaining member.

3. A skin fastener of the class described comprising a cylindric body having an end wall at one of its ends, said end wall being provided with an opening, a U-shaped retaining member having its closed end in the body and its legs projecting through said opening and protractable and retractable with respect to the end wall, laterally projecting means on the outer ends of the legs for engagement with work to be fastened, means for moving the retaining member into protracted and retracted positions including an elongated push bar connected at its inner end to the closed end of the retaining member and projecting from the opposite end of the body for engagement by an actuating tool and spring means normally urging the push bar outwardly of the body, said push bar extending into the body. when the retaining member is in retracted position, a distance at least as great as the length of travel of the retaining member in its movement between protracted and retracted positions.

4. A skin fastener of the class described comprising a cylindric body having an end wall at one of its ends, said end wall being provided with an opening, a U-shaped retaining member having its closed end in the body and its legs projecting through said opening and protractable and retractable with respect to the end wall, laterally projecting means on the outer ends of the legs for engagement with work to be fastened, means for moving the retaining member into protracted and retracted position including an elongated push bar pivotally connected at its inner end to the closed end of the retaining member and projecting from the opposite end of the body, a

head on the projecting end of the bar and a coil spring seating at its inner end against the body end wall and seating at its other end against said head whereby normally to urge the bar outwardly 0f the body and the retaining member into retracted position, said spring closely surrounding the point of pivotal connection of the bar to the retaining member whereby to limit the relative movement of said members with respect to each other.

5. A skin fastener of the class described comprising a cylindric body open at one end and having an end wall at its opposite end, said end wall being provided with an opening, an elongated push bar disposed longitudinally in the body and Y projecting from the open end thereof for engagement by an actuating tool, a transverse hole through the inner end of the bar, a U-shaped retaining member having its closed end mounted in said hole and its legs projecting through the opening in the end wall for protraction and retraction with respect thereto, laterally projecting means on the outer ends of the legs of the retaining member for engagement with work to be fastened, spreader means carried by the body and disposed between said legs, said spreader means being held against longitudinal movement with respect to the body whereby upon movement of the legs relative to the body the legsare spread apart, and a coil spring surrounding the inner end of the retaining member and the bar, said spring normally urging the bar outwardly of the body.

FRANK C. WALLACE. 

